


Cheater, Cheater

by PhantomWriterAnon



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drunken Confessions, Forgive Me, Forgiveness, Infidelity, M/M, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 17:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWriterAnon/pseuds/PhantomWriterAnon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drunken Tony cheats on Loki, then deals with the fallout of the morning after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheater, Cheater

Stealth was not an skill that many drunk people possessed, and Tony Stark was no exception. If this were a mission that relied on his ability to make it from point A to point B  _without_ seriously injuring himself... he would've failed. Miserably.

He didn't even think that he'd had that much to drink. Certainly not enough to forget what he'd done just hours before, which also happened to be the reason why he was attempting to sneak into the tower at two o' clock in the morning. 

He'd made a mistake. The kind of mistake that eats away at you from the inside out, reminding you just how horrible of a person you were for not spilling your guts, while also reminding you of the consequences should you make the mistake of opening your mouth. Either way, you were completely and utterly screwed. You'd dug yourself a hole plenty deep, and you'd soon find yourself buried in it. 

Except what Tony had done was somehow impossibly worse, because Tony Stark had cheated on a fucking  _god_. A god, who also happened to be an incredibly powerful sorcerer, with an impressive masochistic streak. A god, whose brother would all-too-willingly destroy Tony for hurting his little brother in such a reprehensible way. Tony didn't even want to think about the twisted torture Thor would unleash upon him for what he'd done. 

The Asgardians were a warrior race, weren't they? Tony shuddered. Undoubtedly, a highly-advanced warrior race had all sorts of cruel and painful torture techniques to unleash upon their enemies. Tony liked to think that he and Thor were friends... probably not after tonight, however. 

Distracted, Tony didn't realize that he'd almost made it to the bedroom, when he ran his hip forcefully into the edge of the bar. Stars danced behind his eyes and for a moment, all he saw was white. " _Fuck!"_   Suddenly, he clamped a hand down over his mouth, not realizing his fatal mistake until it was too late. 

There was a yawn, then, "The lights, JARVIS." 

Leave it to Loki to be completely unconcerned about the possibility of a break-in. The god rubbed the sleep from his eyes, barely able to stifle another yawn as he stretched. Then, with the nimbleness of a cat, he slipped off of the couch and began to close the distance between them. Tony broke out in a cold sweat, the reality of the situation breaking through whatever buzz might've remained from his earlier binge. Loki would smell the perfume on him and that would be the end of that.

"You're back late." Loki remarked lightly, seemingly unconcerned. After all, this behavior was far from unusual. Often, Tony would spend nights in the lab, furiously studying schematics for his latest inventions, not returning to bed until almost six. 

"It's bad form for the host to leave the party before it's over." Tony said, trying to hide his drunken slur. Loki didn't seem to notice (or, if he did, he ignored it), which was a good sign. 

Loki moved to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, before pausing, then choosing to grab two instead. He handed the second to Tony. "How was the party?"

Tony tensed, but did his best to hide it. "Amazing. But that was to be expected. I was the host, after all."

"A little full of ourselves, are we?" Loki remarked lightly. He moved closer to his lover, before pausing, a slight frown beginning to form.

Tony practically stopped breathing. "Something the matter?"

At first, Loki was silent. His eyes had zeroed in on Tony's collar, and Tony wished that he'd scrutinized his appearance more carefully before leaving the woman's apartment. He'd done a cursory check for lipstick, made sure that his dress shirt was buttoned correctly and his hair looked more or less the way it had when he'd left. But from the way Loki had fixated on that one area, he couldn't help but worry he'd missed something. 

"Nothing." Loki shook his head, more or less returning to normal. "You cut yourself while you were shaving. You should be more careful."

Distantly, through the drunken haze, Tony remembered cutting himself with his electric razor yesterday morning. That seemed like an eternity ago. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that." He breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last. 

"You look so relieved." Loki teased gently. "Is there something you want to tell me about?"

"Nope." What he really wanted was for this conversation to be over... but it wasn't like he could just come out and say that. At least, not without arousing suspicion. "How about we head to bed, hmm? I'm kinda tired."

Loki seemed to accept this answer, leaning down to press a kiss to Tony's lips. "I would think so. You've been going for almost twenty-four hours." Taking Tony's hand, he began to lead the way to their bedroom. "C'mon. Since you've been such a good boy, I'll even give you a massage. I know how much you like them."

Tony followed him, silent. Could it really be that easy? Would he really just be able to walk away from what he did like nothing had happened? He expected to feel relieved. In the end, though, Loki's ignorance to what Tony felt should've been completely obvious only made him hate himself more. When they reached their bedroom, Tony paused, not able to force himself to follow Loki inside. Loki, not realizing Tony had stopped, continued inside... only to realize that, despite his gentle prodding, Tony wasn't about to move. 

Loki turned back, confused, only to realize that Tony was crying. All of a sudden, Tony pulled Loki into his arms and they both collapsed to the ground just inside the doorway, Tony sobbing into Loki's chest and Loki, caught off guard, awkwardly attempting to comfort him. 

"I-I don't deserve y-you." Tony stuttered out, gripping onto Loki like a lifeline. For all he knew, holding him for the last time. 

Loki looked earnestly confused. "What's gotten into you? I just offered you a massage. It's not like I'm giving you my firstborn or anything like that."

"No, n-not that." And then, he forced himself to say it. "I ch-cheated on you. It was a stupid mistake a-and I don't even remember h-her name! She m-meant  _nothing_ t-to me! God, I d-don't even r-remember how i-it happened, b-but when I re-realized what I d-did I... I never meant t-to hurt y-you, Loki, and I-I hate m-myself for it."

The fact that Loki had gone completely stiff in his arms certainly wasn't helping anything. When Tony chanced a look at Loki's face, all he found was an unreadable mask staring back at him. He swallowed hard, taking the defensive route of continuing to babble nonsense in the hopes that something would break through the protective shell Loki was building around himself. He didn't think he could stand losing Loki. Not now.

He was sobbing, his words practically unintelligible. "I l-love you, Loki! And I know th-that this is an assed-up w-way to sh-show it, b-but I've been m-making myself sick w-worrying about l-losing you because of my s-stupidity. I-I'd rather d-die than hurt you, than  _l-lose_ you, Loki."

Loki continued to stare at him blankly, and Tony felt his heart shatter. So, this was it. Of all the ways he'd thought he'd lose Loki, it was because of his own stupidity. Tony began to recoil, not wanting to be around to experience complete rejection. Even though he knew he deserved it, he didn't think he could take it.

When Loki realized that he was pulling away, he grabbed Tony's wrist and yanked him back down, before leaning forward and kissing him gently. Initially too surprised to react, Tony was like a stone statue against him. But soon, he was melting into what he believed to be the last kiss he'd ever share with his beloved. For having such a troublesome mouth, Loki was a remarkably innocent kisser. It reflected the almost childish innocence that the god of mischief possessed... the side of him that so few got to see.

When Loki pulled back, he offered Tony a small smile. "It's okay." Tony's eyes widened in confusion. "Don't get the wrong idea. That doesn't mean I condone what you did in the least." He brushed the tears from Tony's eyes with the pad of his thumb. "But it takes an incredibly strong man to get down on his knees and admit he was wrong. I admire that."

"L-Loki..." Tony trailed off, barely daring to hope. "Does that mean..?"

Loki smiled softly. "You're forgiven." He got to his feet, helping Tony to his as well. "But if you do it again, I will personally castrate you."

Tony chuckled softly, feeling better than he'd felt all night. "Understood."

"Now, c'mon. I still owe you that massage." Tony followed behind his love all too willingly, the call of a warm massage and the skillful hands of his lover too good to pass up.

Loki never told him that he'd known he cheated the moment he stumbled into the tower, reeking of her cheap cherry-blossom scented perfume and sex. And he simply healed the hickey on his neck while he was sleeping. Because the important thing was that Tony had fessed up without Loki having to say a thing. 

Because the fact that he felt guilty meant that he cared, and for Loki, that was all that mattered. 


End file.
